China is tentatively considering whether to curb exports of solar manufacturing equipment to the United States in what could become another significant export restriction of a technology in which Chinese companies are global leaders. Officials in China have discussed whether such a measure should be implemented, but talks have not progressed yet to asking feedback from the Chinese manufacturers on a potential restriction, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing numerous sources familiar with the deliberations.     Over the past two…

China is tentatively considering whether to curb exports of solar manufacturing equipment to the United States in what could become another significant export restriction of a technology in which Chinese companies are global leaders. Officials in China have discussed whether such a measure should be implemented, but talks have not progressed yet to asking feedback from the Chinese manufacturers on a potential restriction, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing numerous sources familiar with the deliberations.     Over the past two…

Australia is facing a historic energy crisis, with much of its Gulf-sourced energy facing not one but two blockades. But at least some parts of the country are doing something about it, even if it is too little, too late.  Western Australia will establish its own strategic reserves of diesel fuel to ease “acute shortages,” the state’s government said. As Bloomberg reports, the government signed a deal with Cambridge Gulf to buy and store 4 million liters of diesel, which is expected to arrive in the coming weeks, according…

Lawmakers in Maine have approved a bill temporarily banning the construction of large data centers until November 2027 in a move that could make Maine the first U.S. state to legislate a pause in the AI centers expansion, which has weighed on consumer energy bills. The Maine Legislature passed the bill, which still needs Governor Janet Mills' final approval. The bill would block large data centers that draw over 20 megawatts of power until November 2027. The bill, LD 307, would also create a new Data Center Coordination Council, which is expected…

Lawmakers in Maine have approved a bill temporarily banning the construction of large data centers until November 2027 in a move that could make Maine the first U.S. state to legislate a pause in the AI centers expansion, which has weighed on consumer energy bills. The Maine Legislature passed the bill, which still needs Governor Janet Mills' final approval. The bill would block large data centers that draw over 20 megawatts of power until November 2027. The bill, LD 307, would also create a new Data Center Coordination Council, which is expected…

Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 900,000 barrels during the week ending April 10, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 463.8 million barrels according to government data, which is still 1% above the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories saw a build of 6.10 million barrels in the period.…

US President Donald Trump suggested that talks with Iran could resume in a day or two, while the US military said that no ships slipped through a naval blockade targeting vessels headed to or from Iranian ports in the first 24 hours of the restrictive measure. Trump ordered the blockade after US-Iranian peace talks in Islamabad on April 11-12 failed to produce an agreement to end the war, which began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28. In comments to the New York Post on April 14, he indicated that negotiators could meet again…

An analysis by The Guardian has revealed that the world's largest Oil & Gas companies, as well as major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, will make an extra $234 billion in windfall profits by the end of the year if oil prices continue to average $100 per barrel. According to the exclusive report, based on Rystad Energy data, the world's top 100 oil and gas companies recorded more than $30 million per hour in paper profits in the first month of the U.S-Israeli war in Iran that began in late February. Oil markets remained steady…

An analysis by The Guardian has revealed that the world's largest Oil & Gas companies, as well as major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, will make an extra $234 billion in windfall profits by the end of the year if oil prices continue to average $100 per barrel. According to the exclusive report, based on Rystad Energy data, the world's top 100 oil and gas companies recorded more than $30 million per hour in paper profits in the first month of the U.S-Israeli war in Iran that began in late February. Oil markets remained steady…

In 1992, China’s political leader Deng Xiaoping made a comparison that should’ve set off alarms across the West: “There is oil in the Middle East; there is rare earth in China.” Instead, for the next 30 years, Western governments largely treated rare earth processing as low-value work — something they could hand off to whoever would do it cheapest. But then REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) came along with partners and started building domestic processing capability while most of the industry was still looking the other way.…

The message given by Ursula von der Leyen to electrify the European economy is strategically coherent, politically appealing, and, on the surface, even unavoidable. It will be the real deal to decarbonize industry and power transport, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, and anchor Europe’s competitiveness. The latter is especially valid in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical order. Electrification is presented as the backbone of Europe’s future prosperity and security. However, beneath this clear vision lies a far more uncomfortable…